Exploring this Planet's Most Ghostly Woodland: Contorted Trees, UFOs and Chilling Accounts in Transylvania.

"People refer to this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, the air from his lungs creating wisps of vapor in the crisp dusk atmosphere. "Countless individuals have disappeared here, some say there's a gateway to a different realm." Marius is escorting a traveler on a nocturnal tour through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth local woods on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here extend back hundreds of years – the grove is named after a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the far-off times, along with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a flying saucer floating above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he adds, addressing the visitor with a smirk. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, shamans, extraterrestrial investigators and supernatural researchers from across the world, curious to experience the strange energies reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being among the planet's leading destinations for supernatural fans, this woodland is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, described as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and developers are campaigning for permission to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a limited section containing regionally uncommon specific tree species, the forest is not officially protected, but the guide believes that the company he helped establish – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, motivating the government officials to recognise the forest's value as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

While branches and autumn leaves split and rustle beneath their footwear, Marius describes numerous local legends and reported paranormal happenings here.

• One famous story describes a five-year-old girl vanishing during a family picnic, only to reappear five years later with no memory of her experience, showing no signs of aging a moment, her clothes lacking the tiniest bit of dust.
• More common reports describe smartphones and camera equipment unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Reactions range from full-blown dread to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors state observing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, detecting unseen murmurs through the woodland, or experience fingers clutching them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the tales may be impossible to confirm, numerous elements visibly present that is certainly unusual. Throughout the area are plants whose trunks are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been given to explain the abnormal growth: strong gales could have shaped the young trees, or naturally high radioactivity in the soil account for their strange formation.

But research studies have turned up inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

The guide's walks allow participants to participate in a little scientific inquiry of their own. When nearing the opening in the woods where Barnea photographed his famous UFO pictures, he gives the visitor an electromagnetic field detector which measures energy patterns.

"We're stepping into the most powerful section of the forest," he says. "See what you can find."

The vegetation abruptly end as we emerge into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the trimmed turf beneath our feet; it's clear that it's not maintained, and looks that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the result of people.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a place which stirs the imagination, where the line is indistinct between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting vampires, who rise from their graves to terrorise local communities.

Bram Stoker's well-known vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a Saxon monolith perched on a rocky outcrop in the Transylvanian Alps – is heavily promoted as "the vampire's home".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the land past the woods" – feels tangible and comprehensible compared to this spooky forest, which give the impression of being, for causes related to radiation, climatic or purely mythical, a nexus for human imaginative power.

"Within this forest," Marius comments, "the division between truth and fantasy is very thin."